Shoehorn



April 1, 1969 -J. H. BATISTA 7 3,436,000

'SHOEHORN Filed June 27, 1967 I INVENTOR. JOSE HERNANDEZ BQT/STH arrow/ X United States Patent 3,436,000 SHOEHORN Jose Hernandez Batista, 1822 SW. 99th Place, Miami, Fla. 33165 Filed June 27, 1967, Ser. No. 649,245 Int. Cl. A47j 51/03 US. Cl. 223-418 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention pertains to shoehorns and comprises an improvement on my copending application for a shoehorn filed Jan. 9, 196 7, and assigned Ser. No. 607,991 now US. Letters Patent 3,396,883 filed Aug. 13, 1968. One of the principal objects of the instant invention is to provide a shoehorn which is of spoon shape or teardrop generally tor use in guiding the heel of a user into the heel socket of a shoe and which is composed of plastic material, the bowl or tongue of the article being of flexible plastic material and the handle being of a more rigid plastic material.

It is the general object of this invention to provide an inexpensively constructed shoehorn which is adapted for use in putting on a pair of shoes.

For better understanding of the instant invention together with further objects and advantages, reference is made to the following description of the accompanying drawing in which there is illustrated a preferred embodiment in accordance with the invention.

FIGURES 1 through 4 are perspective views of various forms of shoehorns of the instant invention prior to the tongue area being contoured through use;

FIGURE 5 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line 5--5 of FIGURE 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows showing the tongue area contoured after use;

FIGURE 6 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line 6--6 of FIGURE 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view similar to FIGURE 5 and illustrating a modified form of attachment of the spoon portion to the handle portion thereof;

FIGURE 8 is a plan view of a shoehorn illustrating a further modified form of attachment between the spoon and handle portions thereof;

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View taken along the line 99 of FIGURE 8 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawing wherein like referenced characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the different views and referring particularly to FIG- URES 1 through 4 it will be seen that there is shown a shoehorn which is a generally spoon type or configured article 12 having a bowl or tongue 14 and a handle area 16 which for simplicity are designated by the numerals 14 and 16 in each of the drawings of FIGURES 1 through 4. The tongue area 14 is of an initially flat flexible plastic material as seen in FIGURES 1-4, and the handle area is of a more rigid material. The spoon area and the handle area are interconnected in an intermediate zone 18 which may be arcuate in one direction or the other as seen in FIGURES 1 and 2, or which may be a lateral line as seen in plan, or for instance as seen in FIGURE 3. The handle area is preferably thickened and. is provided with a hole such as that designated by the numeral 20. Also, with regard to FIGURE 4 the handle area 16' may be of contour itself from the configuration of FIGURES 1-4 however, the handle area is of a more rigid material, such as may be created by cooking that portion of the handle longer. In use, the tongue type area by reason of its flexibility will generally and gradually, with use, contour itself from the configuration of FIGURE 1-4 into the configuration generally represented by the crosssectional view taken along the medial plane as seen in FIGURE 5. The same configuration will result as seen in FIGURE 6 by use of the article shown in FIGURE 4. The shoehorn may be of a one-piece construction and preferably this is true; however, the bowl type area 14 may be interconnected to the handle area 16 by means of a receiving groove 24 to seat the marginal edge 26 of the upper portion 28 of the spoon area and may be secured in the groove or slot by adhesive 30. Alternative means such as that indicated in the numeral in FIGURE 8 may also be employed comprising a plurality of holes in the leading marginal edge such as that indicated by the numerals 32, 34 and 36 which when positioned correctly in the slot provide seats for companionately arranged dimples or projections which normally seat in the holes and resist removal of the spoon area from the handle area.

What is claimed is:

1. A plastic shoehorn for use in guiding the heel of a user into the heel socket of a shoe, said horn comprising an elongated symmetrical plastic element including an elongated flexible tongue area and a substantially rigid handle area,

said tongue and handle areas having a teardrop shape, when viewed in plan, having a first rounded end at the terminal end of said tongue area and a second rounded end at the terminal end of said handle area,

the tongue area rounded end being of a greater diameter than said handle area rounded end, and side margins extending substantially tangentially from said ends,

the tongue area being relatively thin, flat and flexible and continuing in substantially a single plane to an intermediate portion merging into a substantially thicker and more rigid portion while continuing in said single plane, said thicker portion being reversely bent in an arc only in one direction out of the plane of said tongue area and having a permanent contoured, reverse-bend in said one direction, to substantially degrees,

said tongue area being initially flat and said plastic being of such flexibility whereby the tongue area will gradually assume a transverse contour through continued use,

3 4 said substantially thicker portion into which said tongue 685,548 10/ 1901 Williams 223118 area merges being at least twice as thick as said tongue 865,462 9/ 1907 Weeks 223-118 area at the tongue area terminal rounded end and said 1,913,709 6/1933 Gutmann 223-118 handle area having at least such greater thickness 2,366,097 12/ 1944 Gesell 223-118 throughout the entire reverse-bend arc. 5 FOREIGN PATENTS References Great Britain. UNITED STATES PATENTS JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

481,253 8/1892 Cady 223--118 G. H. KRIYMANICH, Assistant Examiner. 

